PhixFlow Active Directory Setup

System Configuration

There is a new Active Directory tab in the System Configuration window.

It allows configuring two fields:

• Default Domain – the domain which will be selected by default on the login screen. local by default.
• Active Directory Login Group – the list of names of Active Directory groups authorized to use this instance of the PhixFlow, separated by semicolons. Use {instance} to include the PhixFlow instance name.

With the given configuration, assuming the instance name is ‘LIVE’, members of the following Active Directory groups will be authorized to log in into this PhixFlow instance:

• PHIXFLOW_ADMINS
• PHIXFLOW_USERS_LIVE

User Groups

The current PhixFlow mechanism of User Groups can be applied to Active Directory users. There is a new Active Directory Group field in the User Group editor window. Members of the given Active Directory group will be members of the configured PhixFlow User Group. Use {instance} to include the PhixFlow instance name.

With the given configuration, assuming the instance name is ‘LIVE’, members of the Active Directory ‘PHIXFLOW_USERS_LIVE’ will be members of the ‘Designers’ PhixFlow User Group.

Active Directory users appear on the Group Members list. There is a new column which indicates if the user is a local user or a Active Directory user. Only local users can be added or removed from the list.

User Details

While editing an Active Directory user some fields are invisible. Login name cannot be changed. The domain of the User is shown in the header of the editor.

Logging in as a Active Directory user

There is a new Domain field on a login screen.

By default it is set to local, which means that the user logs in as local, PhixFlow user.

To log in as an Active Directory user, the user needs to pick one of the domains configured in the phixflow-domains.xml file from the highlighted drop-down list.

After choosing a domain, the proper suffix will be added to the username automatically:

While logging as an Active Directory user, the user must use the Active Directory password, which cannot be changed through the PhixFlow.

If the Active Directory user is not a member of a group authorized to use the PhixFlow, the proper message is shown.

Use the encrypted connection

To use the encrypted connection, the protocol of the connection must be set to ldaps:// instead of ldap://. It can be set in the phixflow-domains.xml file, in the value of the url field of selected bean.

Note that server’s certificate must be installed in the user’s Java Certification Store. To do this user needs to obtain a certificate file from the server and install it. One way of doing this is using a keytool:

In the command prompt type:

keytool -import -alias example -keystore  /path/to/java/cacerts -file example.der

keytool is provided as part of the standard Java installation.